Gold traded above $1,000 an ounce for the first time in New York today on the sliding dollar. Silver, platinum and palladium also advanced. The U.S. currency fell against a basket of six major trading partners to the lowest since the index began in 1973. The Dollar Index traded on ICE Futures in New York declined as low as 71.795.``There's nothing fundamental in the market, people are reacting to the dollar,'' said Christopher Edmonds, the managing principal of FIG Partners Energy Research & Capital Group in Atlanta. ``We aren't only seeing the arrival of pension fund and insurance money. There's been a wave of sloppy money coming from small investors trying to take part in the commodity rally.''
The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund, may increase its commodity investments 16-fold to $7.2 billion through 2010 as raw-materials prices rise to records. Calpers, which has about $240 billion in assets, agreed to the reallocation at a Feb. 19 board meeting, spokesman Clark McKinley said on Feb. 28.